The Sesame Street Book & Record

The Sesame Street Book & Record is the very first record album of Sesame Street material ever released. It was recorded in April 1970, at the end of the show's first season,[1] and was released later that summer.[2] The album was originally packaged in a gatefold sleeve that contained a full-color poster and a 24-page book featuring illustrations by Brian Cranner, as well as lyrics to all of the songs. It was also released simultaneously in a less expensive edition with a different cover, no book, and no poster. The songs from this album were also released on nine consecutively numbered 45-rpm, 7-inch records. The first six of these were also available in a "Carry About" boxed set, and the final three were also available as a set.

The album peaked at #23 on Billboard's Top LP's chart in 1970, and was certified Gold (sales of 500,000 copies) by the RIAA. It also won a Grammy Award for Best Recording for Children. It was subsequently reissued many times (without the book or poster), first on Columbia under several different titles and covers, then on other labels (see below for details). It was also later issued as part of the 1977 2-LP set Sesame Street Gold!

Edits

On all releases that don't contain the book, the song "One of These Things" was edited to remove the following material after Susan says "Ernie's Rubber Duckie!":

A woman's voice: "Here are some more sounds. Listen."

(sounds of three bells ringing one at a time, followed by a trumpet playing)

(sounds of three dogs barking one at a time, followed by a cat meowing)

Then the closing music plays on all versions.

Notes

Although the spine and cover call this album The Sesame Street Book & Record, the actual label simply says Sesame Street.

On the Old School: Volume 1 release, the original cover is featured, but altered so that the sign simply says The Sesame Street Record and has a pink round "sticker" that says "Features Rubber Duckie."

On Side 2, after "Rubber Duckie", there is a short track where the cast tells the listener goodbye. Although this track is not listed on the LP or album cover, the 8-track lists it as "Tag".